2015 MBP Retina Display Not Working, Backlight Turns On

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MacBook Pro Retina Display Early 2015, 13", 256GB SSD

This MacBook has gone under no physical damages or significant drops. I upgraded this machine on Oct 30, 2016 to: macOS 10.12.1 (1682555) / Kernel Version: Darwin 16.1.0.

This issue first popped up last week. The display of the Macbook does not display anything before boot so I don't believe it's limited to an OS setting. You can see the backlight is turned on and the Apple logo on the back will illuminate. You can even use the function keys to power up/down the backlight and see the changes.

I tried doing some troubleshooting such as plugging a secondary display and using that, which works. I can see the Apple boot screen when the lid is closed but when the lid is open I have to wait until the OS loads to see the login screen.

I have tried resetting the NVRAM which some users claimed fixed their issue, accomplished this with the Command-Option-P-R upon boot up and releasing when the next start-up chime goes off. I have also tried resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) with SHIFT + Ctrl + Option(alt) + power.

I entered Apple Diagnostics with Option-D and the results were, "There may be an issue with the display". Error Code:VFD002

I can't find any articles showing any significant troubleshooting steps to take thus far so I am turning to forums as I really don't want to take to Apple, it is out of warranty.

When I was connected to an external display, I took a fresh Time Machine backup. I then ran OS X Recovery and installed the OS fresh (not from Time Machine). It went through the recovery and the built-in screen came back! The Apple boot screen loaded and it took me to setting up the Mac. I started filling in the information and when I tried to get to the desktop, it froze and all I saw was a grey background and the mouse cursor which wasn't frozen. I restarted the computer and it still only showed this grey screen. Then, I went to OS X Recovery and installed from the backup I had created. This went without a hitch and got me looking at the OS just as I had it before, but the screen went out exactly the same way the next day.

Any ideas of what I could do now? It seems as though doing the OS X Recovery is only a temporary solution. And unfortunately, I do not have a current older Time Machine backup for this machine and its used for Media Creation (obviously haha).

Sorry for the long winded description of this issue, and any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
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Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Take it to a Genius Bar and quote the error code number to them. Hopefully it is still under, or maybe just out of warranty. Apple often helps with items recently out of warranty. With a laptop I sure would be using AppleCare's extended warranty.
 

chscag

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Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
I agree with Harry. What you're experiencing is a hardware error and no amount of reinstalling OS X from backup or otherwise is likely to help. Make an appointment with your local Apple store genius bar and have them run diagnostics. The diagnostics are free, however, any repairs may undergo a charge.
 

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